Roasted Pumpkin

I love fall. Partly because my birthday is coming up this week and partly because I love the change in the air, leaves, and food.

Usually every October, I buy a couple large pumpkins and make enough roasted pumpkin and pumpkin butter to last through the fall and winter. I use it a lot and give it away to friends and family too!

You don’t have to can it, but I do…you could just as easily freeze it in quart sized freezer bags for when you need it. This week I will focus on how to make these, a recipe to use your new pumpkin butter, Halloween tradition carnival, and my family’s favorite Halloween meal. So grab, some pumpkins and let’s get started….

Roasted Pumpkin pumpkin (mine was slightly bigger than a basketball)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Wash pumpkin, carefully cut in half. Scoop out all the stringy insides (saving the seeds in a separate bowl and discarding the rest). Cut pumpkin into quarters, place cut side down on to baking sheets. Bake for about 1 hour (this really depends on the size of your pumpkin).

When you can pierce it with a fork or knife easily, then remove it from the oven. Cool slightly. You should be able to easily remove the outer skin/peel now. Once the peel is removed, chop into large chunks and puree in a food processor (or with an immersion blender or even a potato masher). Once you reach your desired consistency, then you can bag for freezing or can it (I can mine, so I put it in my slow cooker to keep it hot while my canning jars are prepped). Tip: Freeze/Can in amounts that you would normally buy pre-canned from the store (16oz, 32 oz, etc)…It will make using it much easier.

Use this in place of canned pumpkin in any of your recipes that call for plain ol’ canned pumpkin (aka most recipes involving pumpkin).

I will walk you through the pumpkin butter tomorrow. I make both at the same time…I figure, why dirty up the kitchen twice when there is really only one additional step to my pumpkin butter recipe. If you think you might want to make both, go get your pumpkins today and then wait til tomorrow.

**Apparently the USDA has changed their minds and says it is unsafe to can pumpkin. Use your own judgment if you decide to do it. I have been doing it for years and I will probably continue to do it…just wanted to give you all the info.**

Join the newsletter

Get Delicious & Seasonal Recipes in your INBOX every week.

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

First Name

Email Address

We use this field to detect spam bots. If you fill this in, you will be marked as a spammer.

FYI...
From the National Center for Home Food Preservation!
Canning pumpkin butter or mashed or pureed pumpkin is NOT recommended.
Home canning is not recommended for pumpkin butter or any mashed or pureed pumpkin or winter squash. In 1989, the USDA's Extension Service first published the Complete Guide to Home Canning that remains the basis of Extension recommendations today, found in the December 2009 revision. The only directions for canning pumpkin and winter squash are for cubed flesh. In fact, the directions for preparing the product include the statement, "Caution: Do not mash or puree." More information can be found here: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/uga/pumpkin_butter.html
Canning Cubed Pumpkin
Only pressure canning methods are recommended for canning cubed pumpkin. We have no properly researched directions to recommend for canning mashed or pureed pumpkin or winter squash, or pumpkin butter. To be safe, all low acid foods, including pumpkin, must be canned using tested pressure canning processes (Ensuring Safe Canned Foods). Older methods, such as boiling water canning for vegetables, oven canning and open-kettle canning, have been discredited and can be hazardous (Equipment and Methods Not Recommended from the USDA Complete Guide to Canning, 2009).

Wendy, just thought I would let you know canning guidelines recommend NOT canning pumpkin. It is about the only thing I have found you shouldn't can. You can read the recs here....http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/tips/fall/pumpkins.htmlfrom the National Center for Home Food Prep.I froze my pumpkin last year and loved it. Good luck.

Thanks Wendy! Been trying to figure out what to do with all the pumpkins I have. Thought we were getting pumpkin pies at co-op but nope they were all pumpkins :-) I can't wait to try the pumpkin butter! Apple butter goes over big here and I know exactly what the kids are getting in their PB&J; sandwiches

Trackbacks

[…] season long. When pumpkins start hitting the stores, I usually grab a bunch and make up my own homemade canned pumpkin puree. If that’s too much work, you can easily use a can of store bought pumpkin […]

[…] all over, then I know it’s time to dig out this family favorite recipe. I love to make my own pumpkin puree and pumpkin butter from scratch and then we roast up all those yummy pumpkin seeds. There are never […]